ActBlue explained

Type:Nonprofit political action committee
Leader Title:Executive Director
Leader Name:Regina Wallace-Jones
Affiliations:Democratic Party
ActBlue Charities Inc.
Location:Somerville, MA

ActBlue Charities Inc.[1] is an American political action committee and fundraising platform established for serving left-leaning and Democratic nonprofits and politicians.[2]

Activities

ActBlue does not endorse individual candidates.[3] The organization is open to Democratic campaigns, candidates, committees, and progressive 501(c)4 organizations. Groups that use ActBlue pay a 3.95% credit card processing fee. As a nonprofit, ActBlue runs its own, separate fundraising program and accepts tips on contributions to pay for its expenses.[4] [5] [6]

ActBlue was founded in 2004 by Benjamin Rahn and Matt DeBergalis.[7] Rahn and DeBergalis were joined in 2005 by Jonathan Zucker and Erin Hill. Zucker took over as Executive Director in 2007;[8] he was replaced by Hill in 2009. In 2023, Regina Wallace-Jones replaced Hill as Executive Director.[9] In February 2016, ActBlue launched AB Charities, an arm of the organization that makes ActBlue's fundraising tools available to nonprofits.[10] Both the 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential nominees, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, used ActBlue during their primary and general election campaigns.[11] [12] Bernie Sanders' 2016 and 2020 primary campaigns also used ActBlue for fundraising.[13]

Federal Election Commission reporting

ActBlue reports to the Federal Election Commission all contributors to Federal campaigns, regardless of the amount.[14] When a candidate for a Federal election raises money through ActBlue, ActBlue serves as a conduit for election law purposes.[15] [16] All conduit contributions are itemized and reported. By contrast, there is a $200 threshold for reporting individuals who contribute directly to a candidate committee. Many small donors, whose names would ordinarily be shielded, are thus exposed to the public.[17]

Fundraising

ActBlue raised $19 million in its first three years, from 2004 to 2007.[18] In the 2005–2006 campaign, the site raised $17 million for 1500 Democratic candidates, with $15.5 million going to congressional campaigns. By August 2007, the site had raised $25.5 million.[19]

In the 2018 midterms elections, ActBlue raised $1.6 billion for Democratic candidates.[20] Conor Lamb, Beto O'Rourke, and Kyrsten Sinema have worked with ActBlue.[21]

In 2019, ActBlue raised roughly $1 billion for a wide variety of campaigns.[22] The Daily Beast notes that between January and mid-July 2019, ActBlue brought in $420 million, and that "According to the organization, that total came from 3.3 million unique donors and was dispersed to almost 9,000 Democratic campaigns and organizations, with $246 million coming in the second quarter alone."[23]

In 2020, several fundraising records were broken. In the week following the murder of George Floyd, on May 31, over $19 million was raised, the highest single-day total so far that year. On June 1, that yearly record was again broken with $20 million in donations. Over half of donations in the week following the killing went to charitable (non-political) causes, including one ActBlue page devoted to a bail fund which raised over $1.5 million from over 20,000 donors.[24] In the day following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, over $30 million was donated through ActBlue.[25]

In 2022, ActBlue brought in $20.6 million on the day the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, with much of the funds going directly to local abortion funds.[26]

In the 24 hours after President Joe Biden announced his Withdrawal from the 2024 United States presidential election, ActBlue reported raising more than $50 million in the largest single-day donations tally since the death of Ginsburg, with the majority of funds being directed to the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris.[27]

Restructuring

In 2023, ActBlue announced that it was laying off roughly 17 percent of its staff as part of what the group said was a "restructuring" that would help ensure "long-term financial sustainability."ActBlue said the staff reductions would primarily impact the non-technical sector, allowing the organization to hire "technical and specialized roles."[28]

Opposing organizations

In 2019, the Republican Party created WinRed to similarly support Republican organizations and causes with small-donor fundraising.[29]

Fraud allegations

In July 2024, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares each launched investigations into ActBlue, citing allegations that the platform had stolen people's identities to conceal illegal donations, including from foreign actors. ActBlue called Miyares' investigation a "partisan political attack and scare tactic".[30] [31] ActBlue had previously been the target of fraud accusations by right-wing activists, though experts have expressed doubt about the veracity of these claims.[31] [32] [33] [34]

In 2019, the conservative Take Back Action Fund released a report alleging that 48.4% of contributions raised through ActBlue listed no employer information, compared to 4% of contributions on WinRed.[35]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 15 November 2021 . Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax . influencewatch.org.
  2. Web site: ActBlue. ballotpedia.org.
  3. News: Willis . Derek . How ActBlue Became a Powerful Force in Fund-Raising . 23 March 2020 . The New York Times . 9 October 2014 . 4 March 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200304154359/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/09/upshot/how-actblue-became-a-powerful-force-in-fund-raising.html . live .
  4. News: Kroll. Andy. The $2 Billion Powerhouse Behind Jon Ossoff. July/August 2017. Mother Jones. 2018-04-11. 2018-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20180411174725/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/06/the-2-billion-powerhouse-behind-jon-ossoff/. live.
  5. News: Pindell. James. How a Somerville nonprofit revolutionized American politics. The Boston Globe. 10 May 2017. 11 April 2018. 12 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180412001140/https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2017/05/09/how-somerville-actblue-revolutionized-american-politics/Vev2sgidKycWKePKcmg65N/story.html. live.
  6. Web site: Pricing. ActBlue. 2017-07-24. 2017-07-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20170712160439/https://secure.actblue.com/pricing. live.
  7. News: Wayne . Leslie . A Fund-Raising Rainmaker Arises Online . 23 March 2020 . The New York Times . 29 November 2007 . 11 June 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200611233803/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/us/politics/29actblue.html . live .
  8. Web site: McCarthy . Aoife . 2007-12-03 . Suite Talk: Taking care of business . 2023-05-31 . POLITICO.
  9. News: Chery . Samantha . 2023-01-19 . Political fundraising platform ActBlue names its first Black female CEO . Washington Post . 2023-05-31 . 0190-8286.
  10. Web site: Hill. Erin. ActBlue Charities is HERE. ActBlue. 17 February 2016. 24 July 2017. 22 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170722111224/http://blog.actblue.com/2016/02/17/actblue-charities-is-here/. live.
  11. Web site: I just gave to Sheldon Whitehouse!. 2020-10-09. ActBlue. 2019-05-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20190508084120/https://secure.actblue.com/donate/support-hillary-clinton. live.
  12. Web site: Chip in to elect Joe Biden. ActBlue. 2020-03-11. 2020-03-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20200313042553/https://secure.actblue.com/donate/joe2020. live.
  13. Web site: Case study: Bernie 2016. Revolution Messaging. 2018-04-11. 2018-04-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20180412001031/https://revolutionmessaging.com/cases/bernie-2016. live.
  14. Web site: What happens to my money when I donate? . 2020-07-14 . ActBlue Support. As required by federal law, ActBlue reports and itemizes (that means list the donor name & information) for every single federal donation that comes through our platform, including donations under $200. . 2020-07-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200714065809/https://support.actblue.com/donors/contributions/what-happens-to-my-money-when-i-donate/ . live .
  15. Web site: Earmarked contributions. 2020-07-14. FEC.gov. 2020-07-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20200714053849/https://www.fec.gov/updates/earmarked-contributions/. live.
  16. Web site: Why is ActBlue considered a PAC? . ActBlue Support. 2020-07-14. 2020-07-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20200724225021/https://support.actblue.com/donors/about-actblue/why-is-actblue-considered-a-pac/. live.
  17. News: Primo. David M.. 18 August 2019. Personal Data About Small-Donor Democrats Is All Over the Internet. The New York Times. 2020-07-14. 0362-4331. 2020-07-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20200716215850/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/18/opinion/democrats-donor-data.html. live.
  18. News: Mosk. Matthew. 11 March 2007. Donations Pooled Online Are Getting Candidates' Attention. The Washington Post. 20 September 2017. 13 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180713170352/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/10/AR2007031001185_pf.html. live.
  19. News: Helman. Scott. 7 August 2007. Internet-based PAC driving Democratic push. The Boston Globe. 23 July 2020. 21 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200921135910/http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/08/07/internet_based_pac_driving_democratic_push/. live.
  20. News: Isenstadt . Alex . GOP to launch new fundraising site as Dems crush the online money game . 23 March 2020 . POLITICO . 23 June 2019 . 16 March 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200316194742/https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/23/republicans-win-red-2020-1377058 . live .
  21. Web site: Lavine . Carrie . Zubak-Skess . Chris . Graphics by Rachael Dottle . How ActBlue Is Trying To Turn Small Donations Into A Blue Wave . . . October 25, 2018 . May 30, 2019 . May 30, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190530195918/https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-actblue-is-trying-to-turn-small-donations-into-a-blue-wave/ . live .
  22. News: Hakim . Danny . Thrush . Glenn . How the Trump Campaign Took Over the G.O.P. . 28 March 2020 . The New York Times . 9 March 2020 . 31 March 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200331093500/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/09/us/trump-campaign-brad-parscale.html . live .
  23. News: Resnick . Gideon . ActBlue Has Brought in a Whopping $420 Million This Year . 24 April 2020 . The Daily Beast . 17 July 2019 . 24 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200724231511/https://www.thedailybeast.com/actblue-the-democratic-small-dollar-fundraising-platform-has-brought-in-a-whopping-dollar420-million-this-year . live .
  24. News: Goldmacher. Shane. 1 June 2020. Protests Spur Surge in Donations, Giving ActBlue Its Biggest Day of the Year. The New York Times. 2 June 2020. 2 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200602005649/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/us/politics/donations-protests-actblue-democrats.html. live.
  25. News: 2020-09-19 . McNamara . Audrey . ActBlue shatters donation record in hours after RBG's death . 2022-10-12 . CBS News.
  26. News: 2022-07-20 . Navarro . Adam . ActBlue processed more than half a billion dollars in three-month period. https://web.archive.org/web/20220720134826/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/actblue-donations-record-second-quarter-fundraising/ . 2022-07-20 . 2022-07-20 . live . CBS News.
  27. News: Goldmacher . Shane . July 21, 2024 . Democrats Donate More Than $50 Million Online After Biden's Exit . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240722144623/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/21/us/politics/bidens-exit-democratic-donations.html . July 22, 2024 . July 22, 2024 . The New York Times.
  28. News: Greenwood . Max . 2023-04-03 . Democratic fundraiser ActBlue lays off portion of staff . 2024-01-12 . The Hill.
  29. Web site: GOP to Launch New Fundraising Site as Dems Crush the Online Money Game . Isenstadt . Alex . . June 23, 2019 . August 18, 2021.
  30. Web site: Velazquez . David . Secretary of State launches investigation into Democratic PAC . Casper Star-Tribune . 2024-06-24 . 2024-08-01.
  31. Web site: Mirshahi . Dean . ActBlue calls Miyares’ investigation into fraud claims a ‘partisan political attack and scare tactic’ . WRIC ABC 8News . 2024-08-02 . 2024-08-02.
  32. Web site: Alamdari . Natalia . Letters warning of fraud, calls to form ‘your militia’: Election conspiracies spread in Nebraska . Nebraska Public Media . 2024-05-07 . 2024-08-02.
  33. Web site: Peter . Schorsch . Delegation for 4.14.23: Abortion . Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government. . 2023-04-14 . 2024-08-02.
  34. Web site: Sears . Bryan P. . Expert: Claims of campaign finance irregularities are dubious . Maryland Matters . 2023-06-20 . 2024-08-02.
  35. Web site: McKay . Hollie . Exclusive: Data shows that half of 2019 donations to ActBlue came from untraceable 'unemployed' donors . Fox News . 2020-09-12 . 2024-08-03.

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